Tuesday, January 31, 2006

more on originality
maybe we are obsessed with the idea of originality because we are concerned with "being first". not that being first is not a good thing, but it isn't everything. if you are first but it doesn't last, then maybe it's meaningless. nowadays r&d seem to stand for reconstruct and duplicate. reverse engineering. this further seems to undermine the case for being first. after all, if u come up with an idea, someone takes it apart and improves upon it, u stand to lose out. this is what i mean by being first, but it doesnt last. first but not last. of course i don't mean to say that we should then all sit and wait for an idea to come along and take it apart. it is two-pronged. firstly reverse engineering can only take you so far. do u tink china can continue what they are doing now years down the road and hope to be relevant? japan has moved on from reverse engineering to being at the forefront of the tech race. after some time, you have to look for something more. it's just like discipline, u need it at first, but after a while, it should be in u, in the basics, and u need something more, like spontaneity. and ip rights are hence very impt in ensuring pple feel a need to keep thinking. its quite logical actually, how it functions. the 2nd reason is that being first doesnt mean u cant be the last. u can take the idea from cradle to grave. not every idea will be stolen if u are careful and good enuff. or u can somehow rope in those pple to be on ur side.

so if u ask me, being first is important, but being the last is maybe more important, at least till the pt the idea cease to be brilliant, or cease to be further-improvable, if there is such a point. in any case, we must be aware of when ideas reach sell-by date, so we can move on.

Silence
silence is underrated. if you don't know what to say, it is better to keep quiet than say something uncalled for, which might change proceedings against your favour. and silence is very important in keeping your cards close to yourself. i think the most zai people are those who talk only when necessary. at other times, they let otehrs talk and observe the proceedings, then make their moves. that is brilliance. and you need not explain urself all the time. keeping your cards close to u is good. u r in control. haven u heard before, empty vessels make the most noise.

more on imperfect knowledge
it is basically a very important bonus, if you are the holder of it, in the light, not in the dark. if everyone knows ur trick, den u have no edge anymore. the worst thing is when someone else reveals it to everyone else, so u become no different from everyone else. an experience made me realise how those oli and monopolies must have felt abt the regulators. but of cos i am not saying comp is no good, u need a degree of competition, mixed with some allowance for imperfect knowledge. moreover, we dun want to be carbon copies of each other, do we?

i am reading the world is flat by thomas friedman. it is a very brilliant book, i must admit. i find his argument very compelling. which is very dangerous of course, if i stop thinking and analysing what he says and accept everything without discern. so basically the book bombards me with a lot of ideas. versatilist vs specialist vs generalist and the concept of the Swiss Army Knife etc etc. "in china today, bill gates is britney spears. in america today, britney spears is britney spears- and that is our problem." this is one line which stood out for me.

in it, he debates the merits of an education in science. and the above line which i copied out is something i would like to discuss about of course. i feel that that particular line is sort of an exaggeration. i mean i think it would be very sad if our lives onli revolve around our work. and of cos u need pple trained in science to improve ur lives, but u need pple trained in teh arts to provide the aesthetic aspect of ur lives. and ultimately u need pple trained in both areas lar. u have an idea but dunno how to sell it, what good is the idea? and though i say that line is exaggerated in that surely we can and ought to have pple we admire in the (i would say) entertainment sector. or our lives would be SO boring. ok, that is from my pt of view, someone who needs the entertainment world lar, some pple may not need it.
but that line is still very powerful, if u read between it and think abt its implicit meaning lar( what i said above, had clearly not reflected its implicit meaning). the young pple in the usa and mebbe the developed world are more concerned abt enjoying themselves. the ambition gap friedman talked abt. that is the danger now.

so the final say: balance, people, balance! work hard and play hard. have two idols: bill gates and britney spears.

about corporate idols
i think it is very disappointing, the livedoor saga. i think horie has let a lot of pple down, including urs truly. budden again, in our haste to embrace a new swashbuckling hero, we seem to forget that some aspects of the old japan is still good and relevant. this is indeed a wakeup call to us.
so i guess ultimately we are still grappling with the old and new. like Saigo. now i realise how apt that i was reading that book.

instinctive thinking
i think the key to this is that your thinking must be done fast and beforehand. like even before u get the ball, u noe how u r going to play it. its like snap, u get it and u play it. so fast, so instanteneous, that its almost instinctive. the magic i talked about last time. this is it. this isnt easy though, let me warn u. it requires alot of awareness. and u need a certain level of technical competence. and ur mind need to be quick. and u need to be decisive.
take this out of the field, and this is still relevant, still can be applied outside football. this is instinctive thinking for you.

going in again soon. nakata purports to break out in rashes when he's in japan. i think it applies to me too. but for me, japan is a much better alternative, stifling as it may be, after all it is more like a novelty to me. theres stuff to look forward to.

anyway Otsuka Ai's 5:09 a.m. is really damn nice. but its so short! less than 3 minutes! the lyrics are very poetic. cherish got this robotic tune like very mechanical liddat. when i heard it i immediately think: "sheena ringo!" but cherish's lyrics are also very nice. always together also. and planetarium's pv is very cool.

i am still analysing mr children's sign. its sort of a song that just flows along, dun really have any high points. its like a relationship that stays stagnant. a journey with little ups and downs. just flows tru. the lyrics is sort of liddat too. i guess this is its brilliance. and of cos how much it reminds me of us.

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